SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE The world can't seem to get enough of Dolly Parton. Her image is blazoned across T-shirts, she burns on desks as blasphemous candles, and well into her seventies she continues to grace awards stages, arenas and talk shows where women of a certain age are rarely seen. Yet not so long ago, Dolly was best known by many people as the punch line of a boob joke. So, what happened? In this affectionate, sharply insightful book, Sarah Smarsh charts Dolly's meteoric rise against the backdrop of her working-class roots. Drawing on her own experience growing up in rural Kansas, Smarsh crafts a resonant portrait of Parton's cultural importance, above all for the often-unheard women who populate her songs: struggling mothers, pregnant teenagers, diner waitresses with deadbeat boyfriends. Candid, intimate and searching, She Come By It Natural captures the enduring appeal of this singular star.

About the Author
Sarah Smarsh is a journalist who has covered socioeconomic class, politics and public policy for the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, Harper's and many other publications. Her first book, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, was a finalist for the National Book Award. A recent research fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and former writing professor, Smarsh is a frequent speaker and commentator on economic inequality. She lives in Kansas.

Reviews
'Smarsh and Parton are a perfect pairing for the kind of in-depth examinationinto gender and class and what it means to be a woman and a working class hero that feels particularly important right now' - Refinery29

'A praise song for the cultural icon... deeply personal' - LA Times



Book Information
ISBN 9781911590514
Author Sarah Smarsh
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint ONE
Publisher Pushkin Press